Japan Passes Casino Gambling Draft Bill

The Japanese parliament has recently decided to pass a draft bill which will supposedly allow operators to start land based casino resorts in the country. Several concerns have appeared lately regarding whether the bill will pass or not, especially since the parliament recess begins on December 6. If the draft bill would not have been passed, there would have been little chance that the development of casinos would start in the near future.

The bill was passed by the Liberal Democratic Party, but it still needs the approval of the coalition partner New Komeito, which was not completely in favor of gambling legalization so far. Despite the fact that the finalized bill has not been submitted yet, with the passing of the draft bill we can see more involvement of Japanese regulators in the future development of the local gambling industry.

Japan is most surely going to pass a gambling bill, for the 2020 Olympic Games represent the perfect reason to finally push for the legislation to legalize land-based casinos. Gaming insiders say that when the final version of the bill is passed, we could see operators opening casino resorts by 2019. We are anxiously waiting to see how the Japanese gambling market will evolve and how it will face the competition of the world’s most profitable gaming hub, Macau.